Category Archives: Healthy Living

A UK health agency has analysed cities across the world and come up with a definitive ranking of the top places to live.

Two Australian cities feature prominently in the list, coming in second and 11th place, out of 44 cities.

The Healthy Lifestyles Cities Report used ten markers to decide if a city lent itself to health living.

In each city, researchers looked at the cost of a bottle of water, the pollution index score, how many outdoor activities were available, the number of takeaway restaurants, the cost of a monthly gym membership, the number of sunshine hours and the annual average hours worked.

To get a better idea of the city, they also examined the obesity levels, life expectancy and happiness levels of the country as a whole.

Netherlands capital city Amsterdam was a clear winner, with manageable obesity levels, more than 400 outdoor activities and the third highest happiness index.

In second place came Sydney, almost topping the charts with its sunshine hours, at 2636 hours.

However, Sydney wasnt as good as Amsterdam in terms of its annual average work hours - Sydney-siders work around 33 hours per week, while Dutch citizens work around 27 hours a week.

Melbourne came in 11th place, with a small amount of pollution and a relatively cheap gym membership - $66 a month.

Other European cities ranked highly, with Vienna, Stockholm and Copenhagen ranking third, fourth and fifth respectively.

In last place was Mexico City, in Mexico, with a low life expectancy, at 76 years, and also with high rates of pollution.

The research did not take each citys handling of the coronavirus into account.

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Sydney and Melbourne named in international Healthy Lifestyles Cities Report among best cities in the world - 7NEWS.com.au

February is Black History Month, a time designated to celebrate achievements by Black Americans and recognize their central role in U.S. history. LMH Health honors Black History Month by focusing on health equity and acknowledging our role as a health care provider.

Health equity has been an important consideration for LMH Health since its inception more than 100 years ago. As a non-profit community hospital providing more than $25 million in charitable care each year, investments in this area are meant to ensure that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health, including discrimination and implicit bias, lack of access to quality education and housing, and health care.

Though health disparities are a nationwide issue, they also can be seen in our local community. The Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health 2018 Health Equity Report showed disparities in health by income and education. In Douglas County, racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately impacted by their social determinants of health, such as availability of resources like safe housing and food, and access to job opportunities and healthcare. Residents with low income are also affected.

Providing equality means providing an equal opportunity for everyone, said Erica Hill, LMH Health director for Health Equity, Inclusion and Diversity. Though we strive for equality and understand its importance, equity fills the gaps that equality might not. For example, if you give two people a book but one cannot read, you provided them with equal resources but one cannot gain the knowledge the other can. Similarly, when it comes to healthcare, it is important as an organization that we do our part to ensure health safety and equity to our patients and community every day.

The CDC reports that one in three deaths in the UnitedStates is due to cardiovascular disease. People of all ages, genders, races and ethnicities are affected. However, certain groupsincluding Black Americans and older individualsare at higher risk than others.

As part of LMH Healths commitment to better serve all populations in our community, the hospital named Erica Hill as the new director of health equity, inclusion and diversity.

Hill is currently the director of finance and strategic initiatives at LMH Health Foundation and will continue to serve in that role alongside her new position. Over the past few years, she has worked to increase education and programming around health equity, inclusion and diversity at LMH Health and around the community.

Hill leads the LMH Health Equity Advancement Team, which focuses on addressing health disparities.

LMH Healths purpose is a partner for lifelong health, said Hill. Through the work of our Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advisors and the Health Equity Advancement Team, we are affirming our commitments to this purpose by providing the infrastructure needed to educate, innovate and advance efforts designed to eliminate health and healthcare disparities.

We continue intentionally collaborating with our LMH Health colleagues and community partners to ensure everyone in our community has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible. We want everyone to feel a sense of belonging when they come to LMH Health, said Hill.

LMH Health and the LMH Health Foundation are building programs to help bridge the health equity gap. LMH Health President and CEO Russ Johnson believes this work is integral to the hospitals role as a partner in lifelong health.

Eighty percent of health is determined by social factorswhere you live, how much money you make, said Johnson. The single best predictor of life expectancy is zip code, and in Lawrence, adjacent zip codes have an eight-year discrepancy in life expectancy. As the largest safety net organization in our community, LMH Health must extend its work into more areas that can affect the health of our patients.

Race and ethnicity is central to health, as diseases like cancer can affect individuals differently. For example, Black women are nearly twice as likely as white women to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer and are much more likely than white women to die from breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Over the past two years, LMH Health has hosted several workshops on implicit biasthe unintentional, unconscious stereotypes or automatic assessments that we all make about people whose backgrounds differ from our own. These workshops, featuring Dr. Jabraan Pasha, discussed when implicit bias occurs among doctors, educators and other professionals, the results can have a direct impact on our community.

The LMH Health Foundation has provided funding to advance health equity and reduce disparities. In 2020, LMH Health Foundation created a new Health Equity Advancement Fund, which supports various health equity initiatives at the hospital. To contribute to this fund, please visit lmh.org/donate.

Working for the LMH Health Foundation, I see firsthand how philanthropy has an impact on health outcomes, Hill said. We have donors that are willing to bridge the gap and create an opportunity for others to be healthy. Because of their generosity we are able to provide mammogram certificates for anyone who cannot afford one. We also have our help and healing fund that helps support our patients who may not be receiving be able to afford certain medical expenses themselves, this fund also helps our providers ensure their patients stay on the path to healthy living and safe healing.

LMH Health Foundation, through funds raised via the oncology fundraiser Rock the Block Kick Cancer, offers mammogram certificate to cover the costs of mammograms, breast biopsies, and prostate screenings. To learn how you can receive a certificate, please call LMH Health Patient Accounts at 785-505-5775.

In order to advance health equity in our community we must work together, Hill said.

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The Importance of Working Together to Advance Health Equity - LMH Health

Everyone wants to be well, however, many dont understand what it takes to be well, said Dr. Rocourt. I spend a lot of time with my patients educating them on the importance of a healthy dietand nutrition, combined with remaining active.

Making healthy choices is often made more difficult, culturally speaking, while so many of our family traditions how we eat and how we prepare meals are heavily influenced by how we were raised. However, the importance of making proper food choices cannot be overstated when treating or living with diabetes, she continued.

Dr. Charles Croft, a Melbourne interventional cardiologist affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, agrees that reducing the risk of a heart attack or stroke requires controlling risk factors. This means choosing not to smoke, limiting alcohol consumption, eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of exercise and sleep, working to control high blood pressure and diabetes, decreasing weight if needed, and monitoring cholesterol.

Regular checkups with the dentist and annual checkups with health care providers are another important tool in the fight to stay healthy.

Its encouraging to see that more and more African Americans are taking a proactive approach in their healthcare, while working to understand disease onset and how to manage life after a diagnosis.

While socioeconomic hardships still persist, through education and understanding how lifestyle choices and adjustments can positively influence health outcomes, we are seeing patients take an active role in their health, Croft said.

African Americans are widely insured, both through private and federal programs, and plans like the Affordable Care Act have opened inroads to access that previously did not exist.

Knowledge is strength and patients know this dictum. They are increasingly informed, intelligent and well-balanced with their treatment options and this contributes to better patient outcomes, added Dr. Croft.

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Addressing the Health Concerns of African Americans - SpaceCoast Living

National Review

Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic representative from Hawaii, on Friday expressed concern that a proposed measure to combat domestic terrorism could be used to undermine civil liberties. Gabbards comments came during an appearance on Fox News Primetime when host Brian Kilmeade asked her if she was surprised theyre pushing forward with this extra surveillance on would-be domestic terror. Its so dangerous as you guys have been talking about, this is an issue that all Democrats, Republicans, independents, Libertarians should be extremely concerned about, especially because we dont have to guess about where this goes or how this ends, Gabbard said. She continued: When you have people like former CIA Director John Brennan openly talking about how hes spoken with or heard from appointees and nominees in the Biden administration who are already starting to look across our country for these types of movements similar to the insurgencies theyve seen overseas, that in his words, he says make up this unholy alliance of religious extremists, racists, bigots, he lists a few others and at the end, even libertarians. She said her concern lies in how officials will define the characteristics they are searching for in potential threats. What characteristics are we looking for as we are building this profile of a potential extremist, what are we talking about? Religious extremists, are we talking about Christians, evangelical Christians, what is a religious extremist? Is it somebody who is pro-life? Where do you take this? Gabbard said. She said the proposed legislation could create a very dangerous undermining of our civil liberties, our freedoms in our Constitution, and a targeting of almost half of the country. You start looking at obviously, have to be a white person, obviously likely male, libertarians, anyone who loves freedom, liberty, maybe has an American flag outside their house, or people who, you know, attended a Trump rally, Gabbard said. The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2021 was introduced in the House earlier this week in the aftermath of rioting at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month that left five dead. Unlike after 9/11, the threat that reared its ugly head on January 6th is from domestic terror groups and extremists, often racially-motivated violent individuals, Representative Brad Schneider (D., Ill.) said in a statement announcing the bipartisan legislation. America must be vigilant to combat those radicalized to violence, and the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act gives our government the tools to identify, monitor and thwart their illegal activities. Combatting the threat of domestic terrorism and white supremacy is not a Democratic or Republican issue, not left versus right or urban versus rural. Domestic Terrorism is an American issue, a serious threat the we can and must address together, he said.

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2021 healthy living tips with DJ Blatner and ALDI - Yahoo News

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The start of a new year is often coupled with self-reflection and the desire to adopt healthy lifestyle choices, but this year prioritizing health takes on greater meaning as people look to boost their immune system and prevent illnesses. Holistic health and immunity against common colds go hand in hand according to U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine, healthy individuals should make sure to maintain their immune system to lower the incidence of infection, lessen severity of symptoms, shorten duration of colds, which suggests that regular supplementation could be encouraged for preventing and treating their colds. Nicole Avena, Ph.D., nutrition expert and author of Why Diets Fail, provides recommendations to boost immunity through nutrition, lifestyle changes, and supplementation which can easily be incorporated into ones daily health and wellness routine.

This year, functional nutrition and holistic health will be big whether it is using food as medicine or making diet and lifestyle changes for preventative wellness and increased immunity, says Avena. Depending on what those goals are, whether its fitness improvement or stress reduction, nutritional solutions are available through various foods, vitamins, and supplements that can specifically assist in attaining both holistic health and immune system support.

Below, Dr. Avena recommends ways to support the immune system and reveals how nutrients play a role in immune system functionality and mood regulation.

It is important to consult with your healthcare provider before taking any dietary supplement or changing your diet in a drastic way. Holistic health is a preventative measure and while specific goals can be important benchmarks to make implementing health and lifestyle routines that are manageable and promote overall wellness can help you achieve your goals while also making lasting changes to your overall wellness, adds Avena.

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Dr. Nicole Avena Shares Nutrition Tips for Healthy Living in 2021 - Business Wire

By Mariana Batista, For The Bulletin| The Bulletin

The year 2020 is now gone, but we will experience its effects for months to come. It may seem discouraging to make resolutions for the New Year when uncertainty is still ahead, but the end of a year and the start of a new one gives us the motivation to renew our hope and start over.

It was a year of change, many imposed by the restrictions to contain the virus that caught everyone by surprise and demanded flexibility and aptitude to adapt quickly. But we also had the opportunity to rethink our priorities and how much time we should allocate for each area to improve our quality of life.

Prioritizing self-care and mental health will help you prepare for the challenges of 2021, also improving our resilience and well-being. How to start? Here are a few suggestions:

If things are still difficult to manage and affecting your ability to function, it's OK to look for professional help. And, remind yourself of the ebb and flow of life. Nothing is permanent and this too shall pass.

Mariana Batista is practice manager atUCFS Healthcare's New London office.

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Healthy Living: Set priorities to cope with uncertain year - Norwich Bulletin